New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A bedbug outbreak at two trendy New York retail shops has sounded the alarm among city residents and businesses , prompting calls for the city to examine how it deals with the prickly pests .

Hollister , a popular clothing store owned by Abercrombie & Fitch in the fashionable Soho neighborhood , remained closed Friday after a bedbug infestation was found earlier in the week , according to company spokeswoman Iska Hain . And an Abercrombie & Fitch store in South Street Seaport also has been closed by an infestation .

Abercrombie and Fitch said Friday afternoon the problem in the SoHo Hollister store had been taken care of and the shop will reopen Saturday morning .

`` The company has requested guidance from the mayor 's office on how businesses in Manhattan should deal with this issue , '' the company said in a news release . `` In the meantime , the company 's first priority continues to be its customers and associates . ''

The incidents mirror a sharp overall spike in bedbugs in recent years , yet efforts to combat the problem have mostly focused on residential buildings , leaving the issue of contamination in commercial spaces largely ignored .

`` We 've had them in banks , grocery stores , movie theaters , judge 's chambers , schools , dentists ' offices -- everywhere , '' said Jeff Eisenberg of PestAway , an exterminating company in Manhattan .

The problem , according to Eisenberg , is that bedbugs carry a stigma , which causes many cases to go unreported . `` It 's like a do n't ask , do n't tell policy , '' he said . `` People do n't tell their employers that they have bedbugs in their house '' -- bedbugs that can hitch a ride to the workplace .

According to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development , it issued 4,811 violation notices to residential landlords for bedbug infestations in 2009 , compared with 82 in the 2003-2004 fiscal year . For the first half of 2010 , 1,976 bedbug violation notices have already been written .

However , such statistics represent only a fraction of bedbug cases in the city , as they come almost exclusively from buildings in the rental market . Owners of bedbug-infested residences are less likely to call 311 , the city 's non-emergency hotline , which then notifies the Housing Preservation Department .

Further , landlords of commercial structures are currently not obligated to report bedbug infestation .

State Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal , who recently sponsored legislation to require landlords of apartment buildings to disclose information about an apartment 's bedbug history to potential tenants , plans to address the matter of bedbugs in businesses , though she admits doing so will be tricky .

`` People buy a shirt , leave it hanging in their apartment , a bug gets on it , and then they go to work . '' Rosenthal told CNN . `` If you buy a piece of clothing you should assume it 's bug free , but it 's hard on the retailer to assure that it is , because how would they know . ''

Treating bedbugs can be extremely expensive , and no insurance policies cover them . `` It would be cost prohibitive on both sides , '' Rosenthal said .

The rise in bedbug cases is not exclusive to New York . Last year , the federal Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a bedbug conference in Arlington , Virginia . Speaking to a crowd of 230 academics , agency employees and exterminators , Dale Kemery , an agency spokesman , said the incidence of infestation in the United States has tripled since 2005 .

Despite their name , bedbugs need not live in beds . They generally live within 10 to 20 feet of their hosts and avoid light , preferring the dark security of spaces behind headboards , under baseboards and behind hanging pictures .

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Bedbug infestation shuts down 2 stores in upscale Manhattan areas

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The critters have become a growing problem in recent years

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Emphasis so far has been on residences , but the bugs can hitch a ride to work

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Despite the name , bedbugs need not live in beds